I was last in Chiang Mai, Thailand in 2007; and it seems to me that I was paying the tuk tuk drivers 60 Baht to go from my guesthouse to most places around town. Usually I was heading to the Night Bazaar for shopping and people watching, or just local restaurants around the old city. Now 60 Baht isn’t a lot of money….just under $2.00, but if you ride in a tuk tuk around four times a day it adds up, and I’m a budget traveller.
Arriving in Chiang Mai last week I found the drivers were asking 80-100 Baht ($2.50-$3.25) to take me for a 10-15 drive. I decided to stay a little outside “the old city walls”, as I wanted a quieter, more peaceful location. I found a wonderful, small hotel, just across the Ping River called the Imm Eco Resort. My private room (two twin beds) with shared bathroom is only 434 Baht per night, and includes a buffet breakfast and free wifi. It has a magnificent swimming pool set amongst beautiful gardens. So if I’m only paying $14/night for my room, does it make sense to spend $10/day on local transport? If you want to go into town twice a day, for shopping or sight seeing, and then going out in the evening to a restaurant or bar, it is easy for these 80 Baht trips to add up.
I think I have found the solution….travel like a local. There is a sort of local bus system that runs everywhere you want to go. And you don’t have to look for a bus stop…you just flag down a songthaew and ask if he is going your way. A songthaew is a red or yellow pickup truck, with two bench seats inside, the length of the box, that holds up to 10 people; although you can cram more people in, with riders standing on the step and holding onto the back. These trucks travel the main roads and stop and pick up passengers and drop them at their destination. If you ask the driver “how much?”, he will usually tell a tourist 40-60 Baht. But I was watching the locals, and they never ask “how much?”. They just tell the driver where to drop them off, and pay him 20 Baht. So I thought I would try it! And sure enough, I told a driver where I wanted to go, and when I got off I handed him 20 Baht and he smiled and said “thank you”. One note though,at night they charge 40 Baht…not sure why, but that’s how it’s done here. One price during the day and another after 5:00 pm.
To flag down a songthaew, just stand on the side of the road, and when you see one coming, hold out your arm and wave your hand towards the ground. They will pull over and if they are going your way, you hop in the back. If not, just wait a few minutes and another one will come along. It’s best to be on the correct side of the road, heading in the direction you are going. If there are already passengers in the truck, you will go to their destination first, but the driver will eventually take you where you are heading. Sometimes he stops and picks up other passengers; it’s a great way to see new streets and ways of getting around.
Yesterday I went to the Central Plaza Shopping Mall, by the airport. I wanted to buy a cell (mobile) phone. Outside the main entrance, there is a place where all the tuk tuks and songthaews park to pick up shoppers heading home. I was heading to Thae Pae Gate -one corner of the “old city” for a dentist appointment. I’ll talk about my visit to the dentist in another blog. As I was waiting for the songthaew to fill up with passengers, three young foreign men (French?) got on. After about 3 minutes they asked the driver “why aren’t we going?” He explained he was waiting for 3 more people to fill up the truck. They didn’t want to wait, so hopped out and crammed themselves into a small, more expensive tuk tuk. You have to be a little patient and wait for more people to come to fill the truck. Sure enough in 5 minutes two families with strollers arrived and wanted a ride. The driver, knowing it would be full with two strollers, asked me to come up front with him in the cab of the truck. We set off and he asked me the usual, “where are you from?”. When I told him Canada, he smiled and said Canadians are very nice people, and we continued our conversation as he drove me to Thae Pae Gate. He gave me his business card, as he also does private tours. Mr. Sombat is now coming by tomorrow morning to pick me up and some new friends I’ve made at the Eco Resort, to take us to Bo Sang and the handicraft markets for a morning tour. The price….300 Baht (less than $10), for two people or six people, it doesn’t matter.
When you take the time to travel like a local, you meet great people along the way, learn new routes around town, and save money!
Temple at sunset, shot from the ferry on the Chao Praya River, Bangkok.
